The present invention relates generally to a support assembly for an apparatus and more particularly to an assembly which is specifically designed to support an apparatus for positional adjustment in three dimensions to and against the planar surface, which assembly has three dimensional position adjustment capabilities (and thus six degrees of freedom, as will be seen).
There are certain situations where it is imperative that a given apparatus be supported in a particular position relative to a frame of reference. For example, in the case where a laser forms part of a larger optical train, it may be critical to support the laser in a predetermined position relative to other optical components in the trains such as mirrors, lenses and the like. To accomplish this in a reliable way, especially where the laser or other such apparatus (for example a telescope) is large and heavy, it has been necessary heretofore to provide a relatively complicated and costly arrangement of adjusting mechanisms.